Breast Cancer Identified Risks, Diagnostic, And Treatment Advancements Worth Knowing About

Less Aggressive Chemo

Super aggressive chemotherapy, when combined with a drug called trastuzumab, can work effectively in curing one early stage, yet highly aggressive, form of breast cancer, called lymph node negative HER2+ breast cancer. This type of breast cancer affects approximately fifteen to twenty percent of all breast cancer patients. Researchers are now finding a less aggressive chemotherapy drug called taxol, when combined with trastuzumab, is just as effective in helping ward off breast cancer recurrences and even death following a three-year duration. The major difference is the impact on the patient, since they seem to struggle less with the less aggressive form of chemotherapy.

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Bone Strengthening Medications

Breast cancer will most commonly move to the bones, and research has debated whether or not bone-strengthening medications, which are called bisphosphonates and are developed to treat osteoporosis, can help prevent this. A recent meta-analysis of these debates has confirmed osteoporosis medications can lower breast cancer recurrence in bones and lower death rates in postmenopausal women. The medications also have the added benefit of reducing bone fractures. These results were all in middle-aged or older women who were candidates for bisphosphonate medication. Younger women with breast cancer are advised to talk to their doctors regarding available options. As with numerous medications, bisphosphonates can have serious side effects, such as osteonecrosis of the jaw, where the gum recedes and the jaw bone becomes exposed to air.

Read on to discover the details about immunotherapy as it applies to breast cancer treatment.